Europe’s new end-of-life vehicle rules dominated the inagural Autopromotec dialogues session, a discussion forum series organized by Autopromotec to explore key industry topics, held June 23 at Automobile Club Milano in Milan, Italy.
The session, titled “ELV Revolution: when the end becomes a new beginning,” focused on how new European Union rules could reshape dismantling, recycled materials, reused parts and vehicle design.
Autopromotec is the biennial automotive equipment and aftermarket trade fair held in Bologna, Italy. The Dialogues series is being held ahead of the next edition, scheduled for May 26 to 29, 2027, at BolognaFiere.
The European Parliament approved the vehicle circularity and end-of-life vehicle regulation on June 18. The measure still requires formal adoption by the Council of the European Union before it enters into force. It will apply 24 months later.
The regulation would push the sector to treat end-of-life vehicles as a source of parts and materials, rather than simply waste. It includes rules tied to vehicle design, dismantling, component removal, reuse, recycling and material recovery.
The plastic requirements are among the clearest changes. New vehicles would need to contain at least 15% recycled plastic within six years and 25% within ten years. At least 20% of that recycled plastic would need to come from closed-loop sources, including end-of-life vehicles.
Lorella Volpato, vice-president of ADA, the Italian association of automotive dismantlers, and owner and chief executive officer of Autodemolizioni Volpato, said dismantlers are moving into a more industrial role.
According to ISPRA data cited during the session, Italy’s dismantling sector already exceeds the 85% reuse and recycling target by vehicle weight.
“The end of a vehicle’s life is not the final stage of the supply chain: it is the point from which value begins anew,” stated Volpato.
Luca De Vita, institutional relations and technical and regulatory affairs representative at ANFIA, the Turin, Italy-based association representing the automotive supply chain, focused on the implications for manufacturers.
“Circularity isn’t something added to the car afterwards: it must be designed into the car from the very beginning,” stated De Vita.
Manuela Crippa, head of circular economy global commercial and marketing development at Stellantis-SUSTAINera, said recovery has to be considered across the full life of the vehicle. Her remarks covered circular design, material recovery, closed-loop recycling and reused original spare parts.
According to the session material, used original spare parts can offer savings of up to 70% compared with new parts in Italy, where the average vehicle age is about 12 to 13 years.
“The end of a vehicle’s life does not mark the end of its value: it is the beginning of a new cycle,” stated Crippa.
GiPA Italia, the Italian arm of the automotive aftermarket research group GiPA, presented data from France on circular economy parts. The presentation was delivered by Rosaria Amodio, business development manager, and Romain Gougeon, country manager for Italy.
The data showed 81% of repairers surveyed were familiar with spare parts from the circular economy. It also found 96% considered those parts a valid option when new parts were unavailable, while 85% of motorists responded positively when offered a circular economy part.
“The circular transition really works when it builds trust: among repairers, motorists and the market,” stated Amodio and Gougeon.
Daniele Bresolin, managing director and founding partner of Bresolin S.p.A., an Italian dismantling and recycling business, focused on traceability, hazardous-fluid removal and document control.
“To transform scrap into a resource, strict rules and digital, controlled processes are needed,” stated Bresolin.
Future Autopromotec Dialogues sessions are expected to cover advanced driver assistance systems and road safety, software-driven mobility, raw-material conservation technologies and the export of domestic products.
